Well This Sucks

I don't know why I've been awake since 4:00 this morning. For some reason yet to be determined, I just woke up randomly and CANNOT go back to sleep. So here I am at 6 am, blogging. This is just all wrong. Brian was working last night so I was laying there tossing and turning thinking, "I just know that as soon as I fall back asleep, he'll come home and wake me up." Don't get me wrong - he is usually extremely quiet give or take an errant occasional crash here and there - I'm just a really really light sleeper. It seems like ever since the kids came along, every little creak or crack wakes me right the hell up. That will come in handy when they're teenagers. Not so handy now.

I've been taking melatonin recently (occasionally) to help me sleep better, well, and to avoid situations like this one. I should have taken some last night but I didn't go to bed till around midnight and I didn't want to be groggy this morning. We won't make that mistake again. I think I could deal with a little passing groggieness to avoid this. Nothing that a little dose of double strength coffee couldn't handle anyway, right? Oh well. I think I'm going to surf over to my photography forum and hang out there for a while.

Three Is Good

I have been really busy with my photography the past month or so. I've had a lot of inquiries into weddings, and have met with several couples over the past two or so weeks. I have already booked 3 weddings for next year.

I am so stoked. Nothing like getting paid to do a hobby that you love. For me, it's relaxing, interesting, and it allows me to express my somewhat repressed creative side. Plus, I am getting all kinds of cool new equipment and not breaking my bank account paying for it.


Speaking of breaking the bank account... Brian bought a golf cart yesterday. It's electric, so at least we won't be putting gas in it all summer. I guess its an '03, white, with a canopy, a rear seat, and chrome wheels. He said something about getting it custom painted with Purdue colors/logos and stuff. A lot of people in our neighborhood have them and ride them around (illegally, but oh well) in the summer and stuff. It'll be good, too, if we go camping or something we can stick it on the trailer and take it with for trips to the showers or even through the campground and stuff.


I think it will be fun, and I'm sure the kids will love it. And, yes, I am aware of the injuries that kids can/do get from these things...


I still say that till we get a backyard pool, nothing we do will be THAT dangerous. And if we're aware that it's potentially dangerous and attentive to that fact, we have an advantage too.


So no statistics please. We already paid for it... by the way, the one in the pic us just like the one we're getting. I don't think ours has two tone seats though. I haven't seen it yet - it's still in the custom wheel shop I guess...

I'm Screwed

All of my follow ups from my surgery are this week. I had to go to get an x-ray prior to my neuro visit, I assume to make sure my back wasn't completely broken. Here is the result of the x-ray...

For those of you non-medical types, this is a side view of my lower back. The two whitish things that look like screws are, well, screws, and the whitish thing in front is the plate they put in. My stomach would be to the right, for orientation purposes.

Pretty cool, huh? I think I'll need to take a copy of this picture if I ever need to get on an airplane. "No, officer, I swear it's not an uzi in my waistband..."

Summer Fun

The kids have really been taking advantage of the absolutely perfect weather we've had the past few days. I also got my new camera so I thought I'd get a few shots of them (and mommy) enjoying some fun time outside.

In other news, since I haven't had a chance to really go into detail about the kids Arizona trip, I thought I'd highlight some of the things they got to do. Of course, I wasn't there so I'm taking all of this from other sources...

I think the number one attraction was the swimming. Vincent is totally a fish in the water. It's helped I'm sure that he's had 2 years of preschool where 2 out of the 3 days they swim at the YMCA. Kind of built in swim lessons - worth every penny if you ask me. It's like a 2 for 1. Pay for preschool, get preschool and swimming lessons. Plus, at 5 he can totally swim unassisted, go off diving boards, slides, swim underwater, float, freestyle, and just about everything else. They also stress water and pool safety, which is huge (obviously). Jade even learned how to kick across the pool. I'm so lucky the kids aren't afraid of water. Both of them have taken to it so well.

Vincent went to vacation bible school with my sister's kids during the week. Again, dual benefit. He got out of my mom's hair for a few hours, had some learning time, and some grown up kid time with his cousins.

They went bowling a few times, too. They had the little bumper things in the gutters, so every ball was a good ball. They got strikes and spares, which I heard about in detail each time I talked to them on the phone. Now all they need is a league, some cigarettes, a can of Old Style, and a double wide...

My sister and my brother in law have a camper and entertained in camper-esque style one night with the kids.

Staying up late, partying with the cousins, no naps, and fun times - that's what it was all about.

The kids are so busy... thanks to sis, Moe, Mom and Lloyd for taking such good care of them for the week. They loved the trip, and it really helped me not having to worry about what they were doing for that first week after my surgery. It was perfect timing.

Babies Babies Everywhere

My friend Nicole and her husband just had their first baby about 3 weeks ago. She is totally beautiful, and with my surgery and all, today was the first day I actually got to see her. They came over for some pictures and I set up my little studio in the basement. Here were a few captures from today's session. Welcome to the world Leah!!!

Meme

Amy tagged me for another meme... I guess I should feel privileged because of her monster list of bloggers she could have chosen...

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Graduating from college with my now useless nursing degree.
2. Settling into my first "real" job.
3. Enjoying living in a college town but not going to college.
4. Working on my mustang and old bronco in my free time.
5. Hanging out with friends.

5 things on my to do list:
1. Finish, well, start and finish the DVD slideshow from my May wedding.
2. Follow up with a few photography customers.
3. Call the doctor's office.
4. Go for a bike ride with the kids (slow, on the road...)
5. List my camera on eBay... my new one is coming Thursday.

5 favorite snacks/food:
1. Chocolate
2. Peanuts
3. Cheesecake
4. Plain cheeseburger from McDonald's
5. Uno's pizza

5 things I would do if I was a billionaire:
1. Move to Colorado on a gazillion acres and build a huge timber frame lodge style home.
2. Put a big ol' barn with lots of horses there, and hire people to take care of it all.
3. Set aside a couple million for each kid
4. Open a microbrewery/restaurant.
5. Start a Mustang collection.

5 bad habits:
1. Getting too many things started.
2. Being impatient.
3. Cussing
4. Impulsiveness.
5. Not calling people back.

5 Places I've lived:
1. Chesterton
2. Valpo
3. West Lafayette
4. Lafayette
5. That's it.

5 People I'm Tagging (the usual suspects)
1. Allisa
2. Jessica
3. TBD
4. TBD
5. TBD

My New Family

I've been working all day on a video photo slideshow for a mother of a girl whose wedding I signed a few weeks ago. She provided me with about 100 pictures and asked if I could turn them into something they could play at her parent's 50th wedding anniversary celebration. Of course, exactly zero of the pictures were digital so I had to scan each and every one of them in order to begin the slideshow. The weird thing about it is that all the people in the pictures are total strangers to me. Strange, though, that after you scan 100 pictures of strangers, you feel like you know the people. Especially since long ago it seems people wrote the dates and names of the people in the pictures on the backs. I was going through the pics and on pic 39, I was like, oh look, Carol and Mike had twins - I wonder if they're identical!!

How weird is that?

Feeling Great

I'm still here. I've been spending a lot of time sipping ice cold diet coke and watching HGTV. Look out Brian - have I got some home improvement ideas!!! It's a shock he's even letting me watch it. It's like porn to me. And after a few hours of watching, I always end up with these hair brained ideas about how to "improve" our curb appeal, or color coordination, or something else.

Nonetheless. He pulled all the dead grasses from last years landscaping project and we actually returned them, roots and all, right back to Lowes. They gave us in store credit for every dead thing, so we got all new stuff (living) for exactly $0. Yay. I was really bummed that we had flushed about $200 worth of grasses down the toilet. You go Lowes!!!

So since the holes were already dug, replanting them only took Brian about 30 minutes or so. Not bad for 21, yes, 21 dead plants. Hopefully these ones won't bite the dust.

We also got a new fountain for the backyard since our old one in the ceramic pot (that I LOVED) cracked over the winter. Shame on us for not bringing it in, but the way it had to sit and the amount of silicone caulk in the bottom to keep it from leaking really would have made it an ordeal to bring in. Oh well.

And since we don't have any kids right now, still, here's one of Kirby. He's our only real source of entertainment lately.

I'm Home

I'm home now, with my Vicodin and bedside table. I feel pretty good. As a matter of fact, back in April when I had my flare up and the discogram and all that stuff, I'd say I was probably at least 2x more uncomfortable than I am now. I just have to remember all of my "body mechanics" and not to twist this way or that, SPLINT WHEN YOU COUGH (that's a big one), and stuff like that.
I'm glad to be home. According to the latest reports, the kids are having a blast in Arizona. Apparently they were the little two bit wonders of entertainment at the airport (their flight/s were delayed for about 5 hours - so they got to know their travelmates pretty well) and kept everyone laughing.
I miss them, but I have to admit it's pretty nice knowing that they're having fun while I'm in the early stages of this getting better thing.
I'll update more later.
Call me if you'd like. I'm really not all that busy...

Busy Laying Here

The hospital has an internet connection, so I had Brian bring my laptop so I could stay in touch with the rest of the world when I'm not sleeping.
My surgery went really well, and the surgeon in fact had to do less than he thought he'd have too. It's all medically really complicated to try to explain in a drug induced state, but my body was actually anatomically blessed so he could do all the work he needed to do thru the front and didn't have to go in through the back at all.

I am feeling pretty good though, and have been up walking a bit today. What really sucks is to cough.

I got some very very beautiful flowers from my family and from Ron and Kay Belin. They smell so good and really help to brighten up the room. The kids are at the airport as I type and are waiting to get on their airplane to Arizona. Of course it's delayed for about 2 hours, so I'm sure my angels are sitting quietly in the terminal waiting their turn (not).

I've had visitors which has really helped to lift my spirit. Everyone has been so helpful and supportive - I'm going to be in major favor debt once this is all over.

I'm gonna go. Just wanted to do a quick update to let everyone know I'm ok. Pass it on. Also I have my cell phone here with me so if you want to call (illegally of course) I might answer it.

Thanks to everyone for their love and support!

I'm A Crazy Lunatic Person

That's a term my mom used to use. I guess I got it from her. It couldn't be farther from the truth, however. In fact, it's a small miracle that I am even here typing to whomever is interested in my little life.

I think in my last post I was preparing for my first paid wedding. Well, it went last Saturday and there were no major problems to speak of. It reminded me a lot of my wedding in that it was kind of simple and pretty laid back. Nice, but simple. And everyone had a good time. Through the process of being "their photographer" I got to know the couple pretty well and really enjoyed the day with them. That following Sunday I shot engagement pics for a couple whose wedding is this December. They were a lot of fun, too.

Since I'm having my surgery tomorrow (yuck) I haven't really been indulging in a lot at work as far as cases go, so I was able to be an actor in our active shooter training this week. Basically, we find a school that will let us in, and play cops and robbers. No really, it's serious training especially with all the crazy stuff at schools and colleges now days. There are all different kinds of sceneraios that we play out, and we all learn a lot in the process. Plus it's nice to get out of the office and away from the desk for a few days.

Vincent had his final final day of preschool last Friday. They had a little graduation ceremony for the kids which was really cute. It was kind of sad because so many of the kids in his preschool class are from the city, whereas he will go to a different school than all of them. I'm sure though once he hits kindergarten he'll be off and running with new friends. As you can see he's developed some relationships already.

He just looks too little to be taking pics like this with his little friends. Never mind the shirt and jeans. He had a FIT when I told him he wasn't going to wear that shirt. I figured it's his graduation. He's the one that is going to have to live with wondering why his mom dressed him this way... especially when these pics come up at HIS wedding!

Wish me luck tomorrow. I'll get back as soon as I'm coherent.